10 Men’s Hairstyling Mistakes You Don't Want To Make

You’re probably doing a lot of things right with styling your hair. But even the best of us make mistakes. And, unfortunately, those mistakes tend to outshine those good habits. So, here’s our top hairstyling mistakes that men make and our recommendations to fix them.

1. Cutting Your Own Hair

Unless you’re doing a simple buzzesque type of cut, we strongly recommending getting a haircut by a professional barber or stylist. It’s just not worth the effort and time, and more importantly, if you mess it up (likely) you will have a bad hairdo for a long time till your hair grows back. And, nobody wants that! You should be getting your hair cut at least once a month, even if you’re growing your hair long a trim can be useful.

2. Finding A Barber

Treat your barber like you would your spicy senorita. Cherish it. Respect it. Communicate with it. Don’t go to a place where you choose your hair style off the wall like you’re ordering a burger. You want to see the same person every time. You will see much better results as they get to know your hair idiosyncrasies and what you are looking to achieve. Bring a picture if you want to show them a certain look, they’re not mind readers.

Good tip here: make a standing appointment with your barber after you’re done. If you wait until you feel you need a haircut to make an appointment, you’ve probably let it go too long and you might not get in if they’re popular.

3. Choose A Style That Fits

You saw a photo online and told yourself, “I’m doing that with my hair.” You tried it… and you hated it. Well, a lot goes into choosing the right style. The face shape of your head, the thickness of your hair, your natural part, are all things that need to be considered when choosing a style. Also, choose a style that fits your lifestyle. If you leave your barber looking great because they spent 15 minutes blow drying your hair, but you know you’ll never spend 15 minutes with a blow dryer, that’s not the style for you. Remember you need to be able to recreate the look on your own. Pick a style you can manage. Look great all the time, not just for a day.

4. Say No To The Combover

This is just the sad truth guys. As we age our hair starts to thin and fall out. It’s not fair, but it’s life. The worst thing you can do is try to cover it up. Type in “bad comb over” into your favorite search engine and get ready for the show. It gets really ugly, really quick. Instead of trying to hide it, try to minimize it or embrace it (shave it off). Talk to your barber about styles and techniques you can use to make it less noticeable. Also know which products work the best for thinning hair which tend to be lighter creams that don’t hold too much so your hair doesn’t crump together. Maybe look for a Salt Spray which can add a bit of volume to hair too.

5. Styling With Wet Hair

It’s important to not use product with excessively wet hair. First and foremost, the water in your hair dilutes your product, making it far less effective. Also, the added weight from the water results in low volume, forcing you to use way more product than needed to get that volume back. Make sure your hair is dry enough to let the product do the heavy lifting, even if you’re going for a wet look. And, when you do dry your hair make sure to do it gently using the pat method as wet hair is fragile hair!

6. The Blow Dryer

Blow drying your hair adds lift and volume, allowing you to use less product to achieve your desired look. Be careful with that heat though, we see/hear guys burning their hair because they got way too aggressive with the hair dryer. You want to dry your hair, not burn it. Give it some space and always go with the medium settings first till you’re confident. We also can’t recommend enough grabbing a thermal protectant heat spray that will protect your hair from heat tools like the hair dryer.

7. Less Is More

It’s easy to over style. Your hair isn’t laying down? More product. Your hair doesn’t have volume? More product. The wind is blowing a little harder today? More product. No! There’s nothing worse than looking like you used an entire can of hair spray to style your hair. It’s just not a good look.

When it comes to product, less is more. Step one. Emulsify! Take some product and rub it with the palms of your hands. The heat generated helps to activate the ingredients as well as break up the aids clumps. If you’re looking for volume, get close to the roots. If you want it to lay flat, go straight to the tips. Also, invest in a decent comb, even if you’re going for the messy look. Combing a product through your hair allows for a more even distribution and helps eliminate clumps.

8. SWI (Styling While Intoxicated)

You probably know the exact alcohol content of your favorite beer without even thinking about it. How about your hair products, though? Using products with a high alcohol content will dry out your hair and scalp. This is never good. Dry, brittle hair and an irritated scalp, no thank you sir. Unlike your favorite brew, low alcohol or none is the way to go.

9. Get Your Hands Off Me

You’ve styled your hair, and you’re looking great. Now keep those hands away! It’s hard to not touch your bueno hair, but resist temptation. Not only are you transferring dirt and oil into your hair, but you’re probably making it worse trying to fix it. If you need to fix a few loose strands that’s one thing. But for the most part, hands off. If you want your hair to stay in place all day long, the best thing to do is end your styling with a few spritzes of hair spray like FREEZE and set it and forget it!

10. Bed Time

Do you sleep with product in? Most of us do, but it’s a habit we need to break. Our hair needs its beauty sleep too. We’re not advocating washing your hair twice a day, but doing a quick rinse before bed allows your hair to heal itself better while you sleep. It might take a few extra minutes before hitting the sack, but your precious locks are worth the trouble. Now for bed head in the morning…that’s a whole other post!

No ones perfect gentleman. We’re all going to make mistakes. The key is to educate yourself on proper Bueno hair and we hope these 10 hairstyling mistake tips help you on your Bueno hair journey.

Pete & Pedro is an Aaron Marino - Alpha M. company. Alpha M is one of the premier men's lifestyle, fitness, and grooming influencers and has been on Shark Tank...twice. Pete & Pedro is a premium men's grooming and lifestyle line dedicated to carrying only the best hair care products, styling aids, skin care, body washes, tools, and beard & shaving supplies. If you have any questions regarding our men’s grooming products, please check out our grooming/hair advice section which is loaded with tips and tricks on how to look your best or just email us, we’re happy to help. Till then, Bueno hair!